Part 2: The Lies Began

Doña Rosa tried to act innocent.

“This is a family matter,” she said.

Esteban stayed calm. “Entering someone else’s home with an unauthorized key is not a family matter. It is a legal problem.”

Lucía stood behind him with Emilia in her arms, pale but firm.

“Mom, I told you no.”

Doña Rosa’s face hardened. “You called the police on your own mother?”

“You tried to enter my home without permission.”

“Because you are my daughter!”

“I am your daughter,” Lucía answered, “not your property.”

The police told Doña Rosa and the others to leave. Furious, she shouted cruel things about Andrés, but Esteban immediately stopped her.

After that, Doña Rosa changed tactics.

She spread rumors in the market, at the pharmacy, and around the neighborhood. She told people Lucía had thrown her poor mother into the street. Maribel sent messages blaming her, saying the children had nowhere to sleep and that Andrés would be disappointed.

Lucía ignored them, but every word hurt.

Then Emilia got sick.

Lucía rushed her to the hospital with a fever. While she waited anxiously, a social worker arrived and said they had received an anonymous report claiming Lucía was unstable and the baby was unsafe.

Lucía felt the ground disappear beneath her.

Then she heard her mother’s voice in the hallway.

“I only want to protect my granddaughter.”

Doña Rosa and Maribel stood there perfectly dressed, pretending to be worried.

“My sister isn’t well,” Maribel told the social worker. “She won’t let the family see the baby.”

Lucía could barely speak. She was exhausted, grieving, and afraid they would twist her pain against her.

That night, Esteban arrived with coffee, a jacket, and a USB drive.

“I checked the cameras. I spoke to the neighbor. We can prove they lied.”

Then he gave Lucía something else.

“Andrés left this for you. A letter, and a document naming me as legal support for Emilia if anyone ever tried to pressure you.”

Lucía held the USB like a small light in the dark.

For the first time in days, she could breathe.